NVIDIA SHIELD Pre-Orders Hit Sooner Than Expected

Earlier this week, NVIDIA announced the pre-order timeframe of its SHIELD Android mobile game console powered by Tegra 4, and that was supposed to be next Monday for retail partners like Newegg, GameStop, Micro Center and Canada Computers. Good news: the retail partners have decided to move the pre-order to… now. This was confirmed this morning by Jason Paul who manages SHIELD at NVIDIA.

It’s not clear why this happened, but it is possible that retailers were worried that hardcore SHIELD fans may pre-order mainly through NVIDIA since those who opted for the official notification could order first, I’m just guessing. In any case, that’s a good news for those who couldn’t wait. If you haven’t taken a close look at SHIELD, now is a great time to read our hands-on review.

As I’ve said earlier, I believe that NVIDIA’s grand plan is to make Android a “real gaming” platform, which would tilt the balance of power in their favor, since they have a great relationship with developers. Retail partners seem bullish as well: “As Android gamers look for a place to get the latest and greatest gear, it made total sense for us to carry SHIELD. We believe this handheld console will revolutionize the Android gaming market.” (Joe Gorman, VP of Mobile at GameStop)

In any case, you can hit the retailers mentioned above, or go to the NVIDIA announcement for an official and updated list. Did you pre-order one? Let us know.